Re-energising late stage drug development

Late-stage drug development is complex, expensive & uncertain. Pfizer, a leading global pharmaceutical company, invited Leading Change to help a critical programme delivery team gain momentum.

Challenges

When Leading Change first got involved the project had some significant challenges. Our diagnostic review concluded that the team had issues with role clarity, performance expectations, open communications & decision-making. Senior management were frustrated that productivity and engagement was not higher on such a worthwhile, innovative programme with clear patient value.

Solutions

We helped the team implement a ‘winning culture’ by adopting a solution based on the principles of Mission Command. This solution focused a large cross-discipline team on a single goal (drug approval) helping them make decisions in line with the project’s intent. Follow-on workshops integrated additional colleagues, refocused the global team at new project phases and integrated the team’s Contract Research Organisation (CRO) partner.

Results

An ‘mission-based’ leadership programme provided clear, tangible & immediate benefits to team effectiveness enabling the team to gain accelerated review & approval by Regulatory Agencies in US & EU.

Improvements in the team’s ability to get things done enabled a product to get to market with first year sales of $120 million rising to $591 million at peak.

The development team leader attributes project success, in no small part, to the change in attitudes and behaviours bought about by the mission command programme.
An independent review into programme effectiveness concluded that the programme had created real value for the company, was highly valued and transformed project delivery.